Clandestine Lives
by Ria Lucas AKA Xayian
Summary: It's amazing where things lead when Phoebe saves her neighbor. Crossover. I'm hoping you enjoy the story more than I 'enjoyed' writing that summary. Rating is just to play it safe.


Okay all. This would be my very first journey into the world of Charmed and I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull it off. It's just been nagging and nagging at me all day because I had the _nerve_ to dream last night. I'd only seen a part of an old episode the day before, but otherwise hadn't had the opportunity to watch Charmed since it went off the air. As for the other show (did I mention this would be a crossover fic?) I've only seen 2 or 3 eps in the entire series. So please be gentle when reviewing this flight of fancy and feel free to add as many character suggestions as you want and I'll see if I can work with them in the context of the story, but I must warn you this is major AU for both worlds, so almost anything goes when it comes to cannon.

**Disclaimer:** All characters involved in this literary shindig belong to their respective owners. So, in other words _"Profit? What stinkin' profit? I don't get money for writin' dis, man." _

**A stitch in time…or is that a rip?**

* * *

Time froze - Phoebe threw the vials across the large landing and they shattered in a burst of smoke and incandescent light. Waving her hand in front of her face as the stink of smoke reached her; she felt a small wave of satisfaction at another job well done. She was considering how long it would take for the smoke to clear and she could unfreeze her companion when she felt a hand grip her elbow and tug.

"What the hell just happened?"

Phoebe turned startled eyes up to meet the deep dark ones of the man that stood beside her. His intense gaze boring into her own with a determination to rival even that of her sister Piper's left her truly and utterly speechless. She'd frozen time. He shouldn't even have been moving. At least, that's how Piper's power worked unless something went wrong with the spell that had transferred her sister's ability to her. _Ho boy. I really hope Piper's enjoying her little family getaway._

"I said, what just happened here?"

"Actually, you asked 'what the hell just happened here?'" Phoebe replied with a false grin that bordered on a grimace. The tightening of the jaw and the firm set of his shoulders clearly showed her that no attempt at humor or verbal sidestepping was going to get her out of this one. She didn't need her empathy, or the fact that the man was currently dragging her toward his apartment door, to tell her that she had a lot of explaining to do and her new neighbor would be nowhere near easy to deceive.

_Okay. When all else fails, a best defense is a good offense._

"Hold it right there, buddy!" Phoebe said. Shaking her arm loose from his grasp she started at him determinedly, hand on hip and finger thrust into the air. "Don't make me call the cops on you. I happened to be a good friend with one of this city's finest and he would be none too thrilled with a guy who likes to molest women!"

"Wha…? I wasn't."

"Don't try to deny it," the petite witch added trying to look as indignant as she possibly could. She casually made her way to the stairs leading up to her floor in the apartment building, continuing her rant. "I can't believe that here I am trying to be friends with the new guy and the first thing you do is to try and take advantage of me."

Phoebe felt the first twinges of guilt for her unfounded accusations to trip this man up but the look he now her gave pretty much assured that he wasn't buying and would have no compunctions about following through with any questions he may have. So, in a last ditched attempt at 'escape and evade' she threw her hands up and froze her pursuer in place.

"Humph, maybe the whole not freezing thing was a fluke," she mumbled to herself and took off up the stairs in case she was wrong.

* * *

**AN:** Somewhere someone's asking themselves "What the heck is this a crossover with?" But don't worry, you'll find out in the next chapter. It just didn't fit well, descriptively, in Chapter 1.

Now I'm off to dream land.

**PS:** Has this perked your interest enough that you think I should take it a bit further?


End file.
